Reaction: Golden State Warriors 131, Denver Nuggets 117

The Nuggets hadn’t lost a home game in over three months. They also hadn’t given up 130 points in a game all year. Both of those trends changed on Tuesday night when the Nuggets submitted one of their worst performances of the year. The fact it came in the playoffs was both surprising and somewhat predictable.

Usually after games we do Rapid Reactions. This gives us a good idea about which players performed well and which didn’t. That is unnecessary in this situation. Here’s what you need to know about player performances this game:

Iguodala came out hot then promptly fizzled off into no-man’s land offensively. He still had one of the better overall performances from any Nugget.

Ty Lawson had a good game. He finished with 19 and 12 and was really the only Nugget who played at a high level all game long.

Brewer, Chandler and Miller all finished in double digits but their impact on the game was hardly felt. None played particularly well.

Everyone else played bad, for the most part. Faried was a ghost. He was slow, lost, and ineffective in every way. Koufos could not defend anyone and had his worst game in a long series of bad games dating back to March. He finished with zero points and two rebounds in 14 minutes. Randolph provided a brief spark in the fourth quarter and McGee played only 14 minutes despite Koufos’ ineptitude. This was most likely due to the fact he couldn’t defend the pick-and-roll if his life depended on it.

As for the rest of the game, know this:

We haven’t seen a performance from the Nuggets this abysmal since they lost to the Hornets a little over a month ago by 26 points. But that wasn’t as bad as this game. It wasn’t the playoffs. It was on the road. And quite frankly, it just didn’t matter that much. This game was entirely different. This game was the playoffs. It was at home. And it mattered.

It’s difficult to quantify just how poorly the Nuggets played this evening. Looking at the box score will tell you a lot though. The Nuggets gave up 131 points in the playoffs — at home. At the beginning of the game guys were trying. But screen after screen, 3-pointer after 3-pointer, the Nuggets eventually broke. That was what this game was about: The Nuggets were not prepared to defend the Warriors the way they needed to be in order to win this series. And George Karl is largely to blame for that.

All season long we’ve given Karl one A grade after another in our Rapid Reactions. In Game 1 of the Warriors-Nuggets series Matt gave him another A. We’ve praised him for his coaching and even voted for him in our ESPN Coach of the Year ballots. Often, people say you can’t blame the coach for losing and not reward him for winning. In this case, it’s quite the opposite. Here are RMC, nobody is a sacred cow. We feel people should always be held accountable no matter who they are. Most importantly, we judge each game on an exclusive basis. Tuesday night against the Warriors, Karl was not an A coach. Here are some reasons why:

Defense. It did not exist. There was no structure, no communication, no strategy — at least none that was visible. In the beginning, players were being beat on an individual basis; the entire Warriors team was outplaying the Nuggets. But as the game progressed it became clear that Karl’s defensive scheme was not nearly as sophisticated as Jackson’s. After Karl’s players got beat, he decided to start switching, which was the lazy way out and only compounded the Nuggets problems more. Jackson, on the other hand, simply didn’t allow for his players to be beat. His guys — none of whom are considered elite defenders by any measure — moved their feet fast, dictated where they wanted the Nuggets to go and played with a higher level of defensive energy all night long. Every single player. Not just one. Everyone. If only several Nuggets players were being “out-defended” it would have been one thing, but everyone was being out-defended. Once that occurs, it’s no longer on the players; it’s on the coach. Players don’t get together at half and form a pact to not defend. It happens as a result of being ill-prepared for your opponent.

Picks. During a timeout TNT caught audio of Mark Jackson imploring his players to set hard picks. His players obeyed. The Warriors were in motion all night. Players were running across the court finding picks to utilize, setting picks for each other and completely dominating the Nuggets physically in the process. After 48 minutes of picks like those, I’d venture to say the Nuggets might have some sore shoulders tomorrow morning. During the game we saw Iguodala take a pick to the back (set by Bogut) that gave him whiplash and forced him to exit the game briefly. The Nuggets clearly were not ready for this type of physicality; nor were they ready for the implications that would follow in the form of 3-pointers galore. Below are several videos that will give you a good idea of what I’m talking about…

Pick-and-roll. This ties into the above bullet point. The Nuggets have struggled throughout the season with defending the pick-and-roll. The Warriors thrived off this elementary play the entire game. It seemed as though every offensive possession they had started with a strong pick-and-roll, then if they didn’t score immediately they’d present another series of firm picks that the Nuggets refused to fight through, which freed their shooters, who then converted from behind the 3-point line. This happened over and over the entire game. For some reason the Nuggets then decided to trap, but they did it passively which is basically committing defensive suicide as it repeatedly left a wide open man and forced the Nuggets to scramble to make up for their lost gamble. McGee was particularly bad in defending the pick-and-roll, as were nearly all of the Nuggets’ bigs.

Lane clogging. Mark Jackson knows who the Nuggets are and he’s not going to be beat by refusing to acknowledge it. He knows the Nuggets thrive in the paint, so he’s cutting it off by having his players sag into the middle once any Nugget attempts to drive. He doesn’t care about 3-point shooting, because he knows the Nuggets aren’t very good at it. He keeps Bogut within five feet of the rim at all times because he knows he’s an elite shot blocker and that none of the Nuggets big men can stretch the floor. All of these elements are giving him a huge advantage in the series thus far. The Warriors know who the Nuggets are and they know the Nuggets aren’t going to change their identity 83 games into the season. With a few minor adjustments, the Warriors have already put a restriction on how the Nuggets can succeed offensively.

And now it’s Karl’s turn. Karl has to match the chess moves made by Jackson. That’s what playoff coaching is all about: the ability to adapt. We know the Warriors will rely on setting a multitude of picks to free up their shooters, now Karl has to figure out a way to prevent those picks from having the effect they did in Game 2. This is going to require communication on defense, and more importantly, players who are willing to put in the effort on defense. Completely losing your man after the first pick you see in an offensive set isn’t going to cut it. Players will need to communicate with one another to let them know where the next pick is coming from and how they can position their body to prevent the pick from having its desired effect. Switching and trapping will not only require communication, but a maximum effort in order to be successful. These two tactics can only be employed if the Nuggets are committed to the defensive side of the ball. And in general, guys must be willing to move their feet faster, close out more quickly and put more pressure on the ball than their counterparts. This will then lead to more fastbreak opportunities (which the Nuggets are getting none of right now) and a better overall attack on offense — which at this point is stale as a 100-year-old box of Cracker Jacks.

People will likely overreact to this loss. They shouldn’t. The Nuggets have been a resilient team all year long. Theoretically they could bounce back and win the next three games and take this series in five. They certainly have the talent. And perhaps, this is why this loss surprised me. The Nuggets are a better team than the Warriors. They have more talent. They have a much better record. They usually play better defense. So it was a bit of a shock they played this way. But when you look back on the way the Nuggets have typically performed in the playoffs under George Karl, that’s when this loss becomes less surprising. Because the fact is, the Nuggets have not been a good playoff team over the last eight years with Karl at the helm. Just a fact; not an opinion.

Kalen Deremo

Kalen was born in Durango, CO, in 1988 and graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2013 with a degree in journalism. He's now an itinerant hoping to travel as much as possible before eventually succumbing to the "real world." Aside from writing Kalen likes movies, music, spicy food and the great outdoors. Edward Abbey is his current idol.

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How does a team go into a game knowing EXACTLY what the other team is going to do (in this case, shoot jump threes) and do nothing to stop it? This had to be the most embarrassing defensive display of the year. George Karl did not have this team ready.

AaronCAPS

Sense when does George Karl get his team ready for the playoffs?

Thomas

What is most ridiculous is that 90% of the fans thought that it would be different this year – that somehow GK would transform himself into a good playoff coach and actually win a playoff coaching battle.

We may or may not win this series – it won’t change the fact that we have zero playoff chances as long as GK is running the show, with or without a superstar. There is absolutely no concept or attempt at team defense, it’s an afterthought.

Mark Jackson 2 x 0 George Karl 0. Hardly surprising, despite the fact that Jackson is a rookie coach and GK is a veteran.

Some will argue that we miss Gallo, others will blame Faried, KK, Miller, Brewer or someone else.

The blame goes all to GK and Masai, who put him in charge for another 3 years.

Charliemyboy

One more game. Could anyone beat GSW playing like that, or are they just better than us? It was all based on execution and positioning. Nugs heads weren’t right. We thought we could out shoot them. Duh. No offensive boards; no fast breaks. They closed down our bread and butter and we didn’t adjust. How would we? We better change. I love Karl; I just hope we see a reversal this next game, or we are overmatched, coaching-wise and desire wise. Iggy said, one game; now we will go there and get two. Think so?

Thomas

That’s the point, they are not better than us. Their coach is better than ours. That might be enough.

Rupert

This comment would be reasonable had they just lost the series. But since they have not, it is irrational.

It is 1-1 and they played horrible defense and GS shot lights out. Offense was great in the 1st qtr but mediocre to bad the rest of the way. Playing way too tight overall and Wilson Chandler just never seems ready for the playoffs. Hopefully, he relaxes a bit and plays like he did down the strecth run. Too many open shots and baffling decisions to help off Thompson throughout the game and not stick to Curry like glue. Curry had too many easy looks but made many difficulty shots that he made look easy as well. GS was going to be tough for anyone to beat shooting like that last night. The defense certainly helped them but the sky is not yet falling. Need to grab Curry going around those screen even if we pick up a few fouls. put him on the floor a couple times would be nice. He’s way too comfortable. Nuggs need to come out with serious intensity from the start. Play 4th qtr intensity from the tip and they can win by double digits in Oak on Fri.

Thomas

Rupert, you are kind of right – it is irrational.

It is irrational to see the same outcome over and over again and proceed to expect a different outcome this time around.

It is irrational to expect GK to change and suddenly, after 20 or so years of playoff futility, to play anything other than his .430 playoff winning percentage schemes.

It is irrational to expect defensive assignments take precedent over player favoritism (Miller time, 2PG lineups, Brewer time, Hamilton-hate time).

Irrational indeed.

http://espn herpderpnuggets

I agree, the regular season success was pretty amazing this year, but nothing is really satisfying the nuggets do well in the playoffs. I really hope that the nuggets succeed not only because I am a huge fan, but the implications are much more. This series could decide whether or not iggy stays or goes. If the nuggets lose this series, it is definitely time to think deeply about a coaching change, no matter how much regular season success the nuggets have.

Thomas

Agree. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a huge fan for 20 years now and I want the best for the team so that we have a chance of someday winning it all. I just have seen enough of GK to know that it’s just not going to happen with him running the show.

GS may put an end to our GK lock or not. It would suck to lose again when expectations are high, but it would perhaps contribute to a shake up that looks very necessary if we are to have deep playoff aspirations.

Tyler

Well clearly you’re overreacting. It’s one game out of a 7 game series. I’m not worried because I think we’ll come get a W in game 3.

AaronCAPS

I’m truly embarrassed to be a Denver Nuggets fan right now. Not even kidding, what a lazy performance that was, worst defense ive seen by any NBA team this year & I watch a hells lot of NBA games.

Our centers MIGHT have out rebounded Curry…if they’d been allowed to play in the second half.

Evan Woodruff

Or if there were any missed shots to rebound.

Ryan

That was the key problem, in my opinion. We adjusted to what GSW did instead of doing what we do best. McGee provided a spark and should have seen more time. Koufos was absolute garbage, should have been benched the rest of the game after his disastrous minutes in the starting role. Mozgov should have got some time to push Bogut around, as Bogut is probably the 1 guy in the league that Mozgov is faster than…

Our starting line-up of Ty-AI-Chandler-Faried-KK DID NOT PLAY ONE MINUTE TOGETHER!

Faried did not play one minute together with KK!

Our best perimeter defenders, AI and Fournier, only played 6 minutes together for the first 3 quarters!

In the dreadful stretch from the last 6 minutes of the 2nd quarter and the first 9 minutes of the 3rd quarter, where the game was lost, we played small, mostly 2-PG, and had only 1 solid perimeter defender (AI) in the line-up.

The sad part is that you could have predicted these coaching moves in November. Actually, you could have predicted them many years ago.

Chris

Well, at least now, we’ve seen how inept an NBA defense can be.

SmokinNugs

Andre Miller KILLED us on D last night. He was “only on Jack” so clearly he didn’t think he was guarding a threat. I don’t even want to post how many points Jack had it’s so upsetting. (over 20, ARGHH!)

http://twitter.com/xantoniooo808x D3Ntilthe3ND

So, yeah…
There’s that game I’ve been saying GK’s lineups are gonna cost us in the playoffs.

wilson chandler at center
corey brewer at pf.

I really hope we don’t have to see too many “we’ll get em next time” & “stop hating on george” comments here.

cause it’s NOT just ONE game.

we worked for homecourt ALL YEAR LONG.

& just like that. it’s gone.

Charliemyboy

Look what our record is doing Karl’s coaching. Something was wrong, but I’m not jumping to emotional conclusions yet; let’s see what happens. Same result next game and we do have a problem, captain.

Fed up Nug

Lets look at Karl’s playoff record with the Nuggets, you know, the one that actually matters.

Tough to win when the opposition shoots 65%, but so many easy threes and easy layups!

SmokinNugs

We scored 117! Our offense was good, unfortunately our defense was non-existent. WE MUST PLAY D!

Stephen H

George Karl now I understand how people think you’re so good cause you’re good during regular season but in playoffs the better coaches show up and that’s not you

Charliemyboy

Karl beat better coaches all year. Let’s see the adjustments, especially in execution and desire. That is coaching.

Mark

Adjustments? George Karl? You’re joking, right?

AaronCAPS

George Karl prepares for the NBA playoffs like normal games. All other 29 coaches prepare for the playoffs because its the f*cling playoffs! Sick & tired of losing in round 1 every damn year!

Sam

Tonight was abysmal. George Karl can be seriously so frustrating at times. How can he play McGee only 14 mins when Warriors were getting to the basket at will? Is this why we paid him $44 million? To sit on the bench for majority of the game and be a non-factor? Jesus.

And why was Faried even playing? He grabbed 2 rebounds in 21 minutes on a bum ankle. The dude couldn’t even move well laterally. Playing Faried tonight was just dumb. What if he had hurt his ankle more?

Man, Nuggets just lacked effort tonight. They probably thought they were going to steam-roll with at home with no David Lee, but man they were wrong. Nuggets simply got outcoached tonight.

Have to give props to Mark Jackson. Warriors had 3 guys get back on D every possession and they clogged Denver everytime they drove to the basket. Making Nuggets play in the half court is the winning formula for opponents.

James

They didn’t get out coached. They got outshot.

Sam

Idk, I thought they got outcoached as well. Warriors were getting to the rim whenever they wanted to and Nuggets had no rim protectors to block or alter shots. Karl was playing Faried at C and Wilson Chandler at PF at stretches for christ sakes.

Andrew

I agree. I thought Karl got out coaches, as well. Jackson had G State setting screens at mid court, among other things. Had them patiently passing the call until they got the look/matchup they wanted. If 1 or 2 Nuggets are playing poorly, it’s on them. If most or all of them are playing poorly, it is on Karl.

Ckwizard

Brewer and Miller -1 so now even for the playoffs and so are the Nuggets. Miller Brewer and Lawson on the court together is a dream come true for Mark Jackson and the Golden State Warriors. I understand letting players you “like” or “admire” try to prove they are something but that means that they have something to prove because they haven’t yet… Well when you are 37 and playing basketball if you haven’t proven yourself yet then… Well Miracles happen like in game 1.

Thank you George Karl as a fan I keep hoping you will prove me wrong and prove yourself right but c’mon man understand the honesty and integrity of your craft… When you say close games are won by defensive stops then your actions ie lineups don’t honor that statement, you can fool stupid fans but you can’t fool the integrity of the game because a record shooting night will get shoved in your insincere, stubborn, politician acting face. But George Karl for real keep playing Miller and Brewer and please prove me wrong, this Nuggets fan wants to be wrong. Go Nuggets!

Old Timer

In the interview before the 4th on TNT Karl was asked what Denver needed to do to get back in the game and he said play faster and make some threes. The one year the Nuggets actually emphasized defense all season long from training camp through the playoffs was 2008-09 and that was the only team to make it out of the first round.

Coincidence?

Evan S

Second year in a row Koufus has been a bust in the playoffs. Honestly Mozgov gives a much better defensive toughness on the inside and can hit a jumpshot, If Karl doesn’t go to him we are in trouble.

Also the pick and roll defense has been horrible since Karl has been here nothing new. Only difference is Kenyon Martin doesn’t play here anymore. So Karl has changed from simply switching everything to just sagging into the paint and giving up jumpshots. That won’t work in the playoffs especially against the best jumpshooting team in the league. Time for some major adjustments.

Corey

Thank you, Koufos has been worthless all year and can’t make a layup to save his life. While Koufos runs the floor better, Mozzy provides a much more physical presence, shot blocking, and won’t back down just cause a team is being physical.

On another note I think J-Ham should’ve played more too as he can actually put the ball in the bucket.

Ryan

Nuggets shot plenty well to win, they scored 117 points. Pretty hard to win when you play zero defense…

HD

This ^

Evan S

Only problem is Mozgov hasn’t played significant minutes all year. Last year he started for the first third of the season. Mozgov matches up so much better with Bogut but it may be too drastic a change for Karl to make. Nuggets can still win the series but it will be much more difficult.

Patrick

Karl’s decisions were disastrous.

1.Bogut sits out with 5 fouls? Forget about Javale, who had really effective minutes.

2. Anthony Randolph gives nice spark off the bench? Ok, thats enough young fella’ you are not playing any longer

3. Wilson Chandler shot awful and I really mean awful. Ok, so here he is back on the court when we have the last chance to make a run

4. Ty Lawson is not able with his height to even contest shots, so all the gsw backcourt players scored 20+. Evan who?

and come on, Corey Brewer attempted 11 (ELEVEN) 3 point shots.

Thanks again to Andre Miller for keeping Nuggets in the game, again.

CJP32

If you watched the game, you would have noticed that of the 11 threes Brewer took, 2 of them were half court heaves (because no one wants to shoot them) and one was a desperation corner three with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. So really, a 3/8 performance from downtown I can live with. The guy led us in scoring, at least he gave some effort on offense and defense.

Where was Iggy after the 1st qtr? Where was Chandler the whole game? Those are the guys that needs their heads checked.

Not much you can do when Curry and Klay combine for 54, then Barnes goes off for 24. They shot 65% as a team.

Evan is an undersized 2, he needs to come off the bench. Faried should not play if hes injured. KK needs a slap, McGee deserved more minutes

If we don’t win Game 3, this series is over.

Patrick

Right, I forgot about those heaves.

But still for some reason Klay and Curry dont always combine for 54 pts on such a percentage. The reason for that is Nuggs hilarious 3pt defense.

toluenehawk

Yes, 6’7″ is an undersized SG. You just lost all credibility.

Ryan

Randolph provided a brief spark, but his defense was abysmal, negating what he brought offensively. I was screaming the whole 4th quarter: where is McGee??? While he has his flaws, McGee intimidates the other team from attacking the paint and wouldn’t have let Festus Ezeli throw down on him. Koufos was absolute garbage tonight, should start McGee or Mozgov instead next game…

heykyleinsf

Golden State were unbelievably hot tonight..

I know we weren’t up to it..

But honestly.. that team played like that..
NOBODY WOULD HAVE BEATEN GOLDEN STATE TONIGHT.

We better hope we up our game and take the
home court advantage back.

I’m sure that was the worst home loss of the year..
anyone know??

It’s no alibi.. but those two quick foul calls on Faried
did a lot of damage. I am seriously concerned about
the fact we seem to always have to play well enough
to beat the other team and the refs as well.

We took a shot to the chin.

But we’re resilient and hopefully this will piss GK off
enough to attack them.
We escaped that first game.

Even more thanks to Andre Miller that we’re not down
2-0 right now.. Serious soul searching ahead.

Evan S

This team is going to make wide open shots, they wouldn’t have scored 131 against anyone else because other teams play defense. This was pathetic and game three won’t be much different if the same defensive intensity is present.

heykyleinsf

IDK Evan..

Curry some times makes me think that he’s
the best player in the NBA.
Tonight.. it seems that anything he threw skyward
would find it’s way through the net..
He’s the full package. He’s scary.

We didn’t do that good of a job..
But you kind of are saying that Cherry Creek High
would have done the same thing..

Golden State were blistering hot tonight..

After that first quarter.. Iggy and Ty started off so well..
I thought we were in for the game of the century..

Iggy went unbelievably cold..
You can not just dismiss the game GS put together tonight..
But I agree with you on GK..

I really have got to wonder about small ball when
they lose their all star forward??
McGee should have played 48 minutes.
I really think GK panicked and.. now?
there’s that foreboding scepter of the first round
rearing it’s ugly head again.

Who ever grades tonight..
Please.. tell the truth about GK being out of his
element vs Mark Jackson

heykyleinsf

One thing is for certain.

That starting lineup happens next game
and until we solve it.

Small ball seems idiotic..
but we have to do something about
the perimeter and we have to
get back to our transition game.

I bet out of everyone..
nobody is taking this loss more personal
than Ty Lawson. He battled.. but looked
nowhere in Curry’s league tonight.

Evan S

Curry will make tough shots because he is very good, but he is almost definitely going to make wide open shots. Tough shots for the whole game will keep him to games similar to game one. If not he is going to roast us.

heykyleinsf

We shut Curry down last game..
when he had his team mate that
was on all star.

But he was also cold last game.

Tonight he was on fire.

by the by…

Marc Gasol will be announced
as the NBA defensive player of the year
tomorrow..

But tonight? (and a lot of times)
It’s sacrilege to say Iggy wasn’t good on defense.
He started the game looking out of his mind great
on offense.. but folks..
35 points in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters.

Be pissed at K2 all you want.. you’re not going
to hear me rush to any apology for him.

But K2 played 14 minutes.
Iggy played 43 minutes.

The GS guards had 77 points.. and 3 bigs for them
added another 12 points beyond the arc.

I say it when I see it.. have all along.
But here on this forum?
We have our sacred cows.

It seems to me here.. that I’m the only one
who ever points out that Iggy
isn’t all that on some nights.

Well tonight folks? Look no further than your
heroic defensive player of the year to see who
let us down on defense.
You think it’s Koufos?

HA!!!

zorba

you’re absolutely right! When perimeter offense sucks, our bigs are trapped, when perimeter defense sucks and our bigs don’t get the ball, they are useless…

zorba

I mean when our bigs can’t even rebound because of GSW’s perfect perimeter shooting… then they’re useless…

Charliemyboy

We actually win from offensive boards, steals, blocks and drives. None tonight! GSW knows they can’t bounce pass or they will get picked; they adjust; they hustle to defense before we get there. It will take much ingenuity and effort to not lose this series. They take us out of our game. We can’t stop their shooters, so we can only minimize their effectiveness and play where we are strong. Too much individual ball. Where was the drive and dribble? I still think we have better players; they have to take some responsibility and be totally exhausted by the end of the next game. No ifs. Need some butt chewing, and Masai needs to talk to Karl. Sorry. So embarrasing.

Joey

Curry’s NOT the full package though! He’s a matador on defense as is the rest of G St outside of Bogut and Landry, but we didn’t put anyone to space the lane at all out there. Our smalls cannot beat their smalls because that’s their identity and ours is a driving team. I’d rather see Curry jack up 80 points and have us score 110 and keep the rest of their offense honest. Curry is out there to shoot and pass out of double teams. That’s literally all he does. He is nowhere near a top 5 player in this league.

Corey

Nuggets could have easily beaten GS tonight. Played absolutely horrible and weren’t that far behind around the 4th. Had they played any sort of d, they would have won. Curry made a couple of tough shots, but practically all their threes were wide open. Play like that again and the same thing will happen.

Ryan

Agreed. From Andre Miller not contesting 3s to Randolph letting Barnes drive right by him to the hole, to letting Festus effing Ezeli throw down on us uncontested multiple times, no one played anything resembling defense tonight. Absolutely unacceptable effort in a playoff game…

James

No more whining. The way they shot, we weren’t winning that game. Too many easy shots, but they hit all the contested ones, too. Injury to Lee let them play with nothing to lose, even more than usual when down 1-0, and they just got hot. Needed more McGee, but he couldn’t guard the outside shooters, either.

We’ll get one back in Oakland.

Old Timer

My heart sank when I saw Mark Jackson went with Jarrett Jack to start and GS was going to work Denver over on the perimeter even more than in game 1. Koufos never did leave the paint on ball screens allowing open jumpers when he was in the game and McGee was making the same mistake until his second stint when he started hedging on the screen. It is baffling how a team can be so lost defending such a simple play. Late in the game when Denver started challenging the guards more, the lane opened up allowing for even easier shots.

Also very disappointed in Denver’s lack of passion. They were sleep walking through much of the game. They accomplished the difficult task of not crashing the offensive glass as well as not getting back on defense. You have to really try not to do either one.

The Nuggets have a couple of days to tighten things up, but it is something that should have been handled in training camp.

NugZeit

Started off ok in the 1st – then had a rough second qtr, then … all hell broke loose.

Terrible defensive game by Nuggs, especially the second half, though I blame it on GK having the team double Curry constantly – he was passing out of the double team and getting his teammates open shots all night.

I would rather just put a dedicated defender on him – Iggy/Chandler/Brewer and live with the results – this giving up open threes and dunks because of doubling/trapping is too risky and we saw that tonight.

Need to get both on the road now to make this a short series and one just to keep it competitive.

Scariest thing from tonight is that the Warriors believe – I don’t know if the Nuggets do. Mark Jackson is looking like the Great Motivator right now.

Hope we get it turned around in game 3.

http://yahoo.com prospector

All year I have been complaining about the two point guard lineup…. Now you all understand why….. When TY was out, we played big in the backcourt and WON… 8 or 9 and one without TY….. WHY??? Cause IGGY and EVAN together win games .. You can’t shoot the three over those cats……. When Miller, TY, and Brewer are on the floor at the same time the opposing teams shoot lights out from beyond the ARC…. If you don’t believe me watch the film…

Questions:

Why the hell was EVAN on the bench the entire 2nd, 3rd, and most of the 4th??? He proved he can play, and he plays better defense than MILLER, BREWER, and TY… BY far….

Why didn’t MOZZY get a sniff???

KK and Faried play well together…. Why the hell did KARL put FARIED in with McgEE????

Karl you are a punk… You never learn from your mistakes never…. For every emergency there is only one lineup fix… SMALL BALL….. I heard Karl actually say he wanted to go smaller in this series with a few minutes of IGGY on David LEE… Karl always thinks small….. PLaying 4 players on the floor out of position is freaking stupid…. You win the playoffs by GOING BIG!!!! Protect the paint!! Protect the perimeter….. We may lose this series if Miller and TY continue to play together… Our only playoff hope is for TY or MILLER to get a hang nail injury and stay out the remainder of the playoffs… Cause KARL loves him some two PG’s… And MILLER big game in game 1 was a bad omen for crack head KARL… YO KARL PLAY EVAN YOU FREAKIN IDIOT!

Ryan

Unnoticed stat of the night: Nuggets were winning by 2 (31-29) when the 2 PG lineup was unveiled for the first time in this game…

Charliemyboy

No need to be disrespectful based on childish emotions. Obviously, what you call Karl is what you are! Your analysis is bereft of logic as you only see what you want to see. They played poorly, but only the childish name caller is the idiot.

Jeff

The Warriors played very well in the second half. We had to go small cuz Koufos and McGee can’t defend the wing shooters, and then they started killing us in the paint. Just a damned if you do damned if you don’t scenario. We can’t let them get hot like that.
I think Brewer can be effective this series, especially if his shot is falling. He has the length and quickness to guard the shooters. I would start Lawson, Iguodala, Chandler, Faried, and McGee. Miller Fournier Brewer Randolph and Koufos getting bench minutes. When Koufos gets in there he needs to rebound like his life depends on it.

Charliemyboy

You might be right Jeff, but I’m not sure about Faried. I counted 5 times in a row when he was too slow on defense and his man hit the jumper; 5 times in a row. Pull him out if it happens two times. We can live with that if he gets 12 rebounds, but he didn’t. Evan kept fouling. I don’t think Karl was up to it this game. But I have faith he will give himself an ass kicking. Our team is too good to suffer such an embarrassment. I predict two solid wins (hope) coming up.

Aaron

you can’t win when the other team shoot 65 % (before garbage time) from 3.

I was at the game. . you could just see it raining. . they were all going in. And we were actually defending Jack and Barnes fairly well. They still went in.

Now, Karl deserves blame for no centers in the 4th and too much Andre M. in the 2nd quarter. But, I agree with the posters above. . no one was winning that game tonight except GS. They just didn’t start missing until we were down 15 wtih 3 minutes left. Unreal shooting display.

I’m not sure why Fournier and Mcgee got the doghouse. They both needed more minutes, not less.

http://yahoo.com prospector

MEMO to KARL:

Chandler has a much higher shooting percentage when he is at the SF or SG…. Let him freaking play at his NATURAL position….. Why do we even have depth when KARL plays everyone out of position anyway? Just get a whole team of PG’s and SG’s and karl will be in Heaven..

STATS of the DAY:

OLD man MILLER has never, NEVER, EVER, EVER won a playoff series in the NBA… The dude is 37… You have to try real hard to suck that bad… WHY? Cause his lazy no defense game does not translate to playoff series wins… If you are counting on him winning a series for you, you are either insane or GEORGE KARL.

KARL has no RINGS… And a history of coming up short in the playoffs… SO anyone who is SHOCKED by today is not paying attention…… I’ll be more shocked if KARL actually makes the right decision to limit MILLER to 20 mins tops and no two pg lineups… Yo KARL throw IGGY a bone and let him run the point for 8 or 10 mins.. What are you scared of??? Actually winning??? KARL YOU ARE PATHETIC!! And you can take your regular season wins and shove it up your backside.. Cause playoff wins are the true judge of a coach….

Charliemyboy

Memo to prospector: Karl pays no attention to children; please crawl back into the crib and suck your thumb. Grow up. Most of the reading here is reasonable; get out of your crib.

I have beef with coach Karl. While I have admired his innovative play calling this season. His rotations particularly in the playoffs have proven costly to me in the past (*cough* 2012 Smackdown *cough*). That said, Denver has the altitude going for them. The Homecourt in this series will be huge. That and I don’t trust Bogut’s health at all. It might be sexy to pick the upset here but I’m crossing my fingers and rolling with coach Karl.

The Warriors also get the bonus 4% nod on playoff experience because of, well, George Karl.

God save the Nuggets from their typical first round foibles.

Denver in 7 Games ( 65% Win probability)

XFactor: George Karl decides he wants to win a playoff game without a center. Loses by two. Dre writes the mother of all KarlWatch posts. ”

I can’t wait to read the next KARL WATCH post… The guys at that blog understand KARL’s stupidity and they have the stats to back it up.

Charliemyboy

A little more intelligent. You only called yourself stupid one time. Try growning up.

Ryan

I was reminded while watching this game of when the 8 seed Warriors beat the 1 seed Mavericks back in the day. The Warriors went small the majority of the game, so what does GK do? Goes small to match them. That’s exactly why the Mavs lost even though they were the better team, they adjusted to the Warriors instead of imposing their will on them. The Nuggets could have easily exposed the Warriors by going big and punishing them inside. What would the Warriors have done if the Nuggets started McGee and Koufos together and relentlessly posted them up? True, it might have failed miserably, but it might have forced the Warriors out of what they wanted to do. My point is: when you’re the better team, you impose your will on the other team, not adjust to what they do. The Mavs learned that the hard way, let’s hope the Nuggets don’t meet the same fate…

http://twitter.com/xantoniooo808x D3Ntilthe3ND

Probably the most intelligent thing I’ve read all week.

heykyleinsf

Absolutely Ryan.

Something to be said about having nothing to lose.

Conservative killed us.

Thomas

That’s the whole point – Mark Jackson is coaching, GK is reacting (inefficiently). Problem is that Mark Jackson understands the game much better than GK, despite the fact that he is a rookie coach.

This is the way GK coaches: he has preconceived ideas in his mind, he uses them during the regular season, he wins in the regular season, he applies the same ideas in the playoffs.

Preconceived idea #2, #3 and #4 is all he has in his toolbox. None of these preconceived ideas involves playing playoff-intensity defense.

Charliemyboy

You both make sense. Karl needs to apply his intellect as he did against OKC and the Clipps prior to the game and know what to do when Jackson makes his adjustments. He needs to mix it up. He better be prepared to let the wildcard Hamilton play if can only play offense. Otherwise we can’t beat them in a shoot out. Just make them miss the first 4 shots. Foul them, get a technical.

Thomas

You don’t understand the “essence” of GK’s philosophy.

He believes in playing a “certain way” and therefore allocates minutes and conjures line-ups that are always representative of that “certain way”.

You are not going to see Miller’s minutes reduced to a mininum, in favor of the defensive skills of Fournier or to allow us to play AI and Fornier alongside. It’s just not going to happen.

http://yahoo.com prospector

Great post Ryan!!!

amlowlife

“The Nuggets could have easily exposed the Warriors by going big and punishing them inside. What would the Warriors have done if the Nuggets started McGee and Koufos together and relentlessly posted them up?”

Yes, this would have “failed miserably”. Do you want to trade 2’s for 3’s? When a team is shooting 3’s like that you can’t bring in two bigs who can’t cover p&r’s, aren’t rotating quickly, etc., etc. GSW would have shot 75%!

This is where we miss Gallo. When we went small previously, at least we had a “center” (Gallo) who could switch effectively. While I’m certainly not advocating Chandler at the 5 (I couldn’t believe it when I saw it!) our bigs aren’t the remedy for a team like GSW who can shoot lights-out from deep.

Not sure what IS the remedy, though, but I’m pretty sure Chandler at center, Brewer our long-range threat and Miller our defensive ace isn’t what the doctor ordered.

Ryan

Agreed. I don’t particularly like the idea either, but there has to be some way to expose GSW’s weakness inside. Perhaps we don’t have the right personnel to do so? Frustrating to constantly see the Nuggets trying to match what the Warriors are doing though, instead of the other way around…

Ckwizard

Problem with going small is Miller can not defend anyone! So by matching their small line up te Nuggets create their worst defensive line up to go against the Warriors best offensive lineup… That was insanity at its finest, square peg round hole pound pound pound…

heykyleinsf

it’s not like 77 points from their 3 starting guards
was all on the devil Andre.. very much the same
that the angel Andre (AI) had none of the 77 points
on him.

Iggy played 43 minutes.

I did not see any Defensive Player of the Year
audition tape from him.

Kasey

You seriously need to stop going in on Iggy like that. Frankly I’m tired of you doing that. The entire team played horrible, not just one guy. This is just one game where Iggy was off on defense. No one is perfect. Plus Curry and crew were shooting lights out even on contested shots. You know dang well that Iggy is a good defensive player. His defensive player of the year audition tape has already been submitted with proof of what he did throughout the season.

heykyleinsf

Then you clearly only see when I call him out.
I give him credit.

I will not stop calling them like I see them..
just because it’s a popularity contest.

I don’t care. You can’t tell me he neutralized anyone.
He got WORKED.

Everyone else did to.. but everyone else always gets
the blame as well.

I am sorry to hurt your feelings.

IGGY SUCKED.

Hopefully he will shake it off and be himself again
in game 3.

Kasey

Actually I do see when you give him credit, but for the most part you bash him a lot. Maybe you’re like Kizla and have a major problem with his salary.

The entire team sucked, but I will not just single out one player like that. That’s wrong to me. There is no popularity contest as this is actually a real team unlike other teams out there.

heykyleinsf

what’s wrong to me is seeing things myopically.

Everything else being equal.. I wouldn’t even bring it up.

I’m TOTALLY responding tonight just like any other night.

Look at every single post.. it’s in response to what others
say. Look.. I came in to this about everyone finding blame
and naming names.

I merely added an obvious one..
that’s obviously taboo to ever mention that
he does in fact.. suck some times.
Need I mention him at the foul line?

And again.. I’m the only one that doesn’t care about
being popular enough to say it.
But it’s true.
Defend 77 points..
It’s not like I’m all giddy because I get to hate on him..
Quite the contrary .. I’m pissed at fans for being short-sighted.

Charliemyboy

I think Iggy can do his job on anyone in the NBA. Something was different; he was either hurt, or their play got him out. Why so great the first few minutes then gone? Something was wrong.

Kasey

I agree. Also, the Nuggets just did not play Nuggets basketball last night. That was not the same team that I’ve watched all season. smh

Stephen

I think he was hurt. He seemed tired or confused. I saw 2 specific plays where he seemed to be reacting slowly, or just not knowing where he should be. Both late in the game.

I’m thinking the whip-lash pick was more substantial than we are being led to believe.

heykyleinsf

Kasey.. you are reacting to me and
jumping to the conclusion that I don’t
think Iggy is a good BB player.

He’s awesome.
I say it when I see it, just as I say it
when I don’t see it.. First quarter…
I saw it.. rest of the game..
Abracadabra he’s gone.

This isn’t the first game this year we’ve
seen a disappearing act.

He’s the most gifted player on the roster,
maybe 2nd to McGee in physical possibilities

But if everyone on the team had the motor
of Lawson and Faried.. we would be scary good.

Fed up Nug

George Karl – Coach of the Year

Charliemyboy

You said the same thing when they moved from 15th to 3rd in standings!

GK4Prez

Round 1: Rinse, Repeat, Get Free Pass, and Try Again. It is the definition of insanity.

Tom2

You jokers are acting like lineups and rotations would have made a difference in the outcome. What, you’re telling me if McGee and Koufos and Fournier played more that the nuggets would have won? You guys are a bunch of comedians. Phil Jackson couldn’t have won that game. Seriously, some times the other team is just plain better for one night. The odds of that shooting display happening again in our lifetimes are close to nil. The nuggets couldn’t shoot like that if they were left wide open the whole game. Heck, the nuggets struggle to shoot that well from the free throw line most nights, let alone from the field. And offensively, the nuggets played great. They just couldn’t stop golden state from knocking down all those jump shots.

Since the defense that was played either made no difference or completelybackfired

Tom2

… I would just play everyone man-up. You certainly couldn’t do much worse. Let curry and Thompson get theirs, but you can’t let the rest of the team score like that. If curry puts up 50, then tip your cap.

Charliemyboy

These are two good comments. Even Miami lost a couple times to much less teams. Can we look forward to more effort and a better game Friday night? Live by the jumper; die by the jumper?

Thomas

You are the joker.

You are assuming that them shooting lights out was not a function of our perimeter defense and line-up choices and minute allocations.

The game was lost during a 15 minute stretch in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Our perimeter defense was non-existent in that span. Look at the line-ups during that span, look at who was playing on each team.

If we have those kind of line-ups for both teams for an entire series, we lose 4-0.

Trafalgar Law

Mark Jackson gives his players confidence and cheers them on. He’s always standing up and always has passion and emotion. On the other hand Karl 90% of the time just sits down emotionless on the bench his fucking assistants are more locked into the game then he is!! And it’s so frustrating!! Jackson also tells his team what to do on timeout while Karl just says “Gentlemen i want you to run”. Just so frustrating how Karl coaches…

Charliemyboy

Don’t jump to conclusions on style determining effectiveness. I’ve seen Karl get hot when it was needed. The team always addresses him with respect. I do like Jackson, though; he seems to be a great motivator. Still, Karl has developed the better team; he just has to prove it. What will we be saying if (hope) we still get to the conference finals!

Evan S

Yes, Karl needs to show emotion and stand up for his players when they aren’t getting calls. Not only does it have an effect on the officials but it raises their confidence.

Giovanni

What disaster…

But we are surprise??

No…

Same old story…

Play big,slow down the pace and don’t change change change every fucked possession…
Play a zone,make adjustments…

Charliemyboy

I’m too defensive, but the same old story is one loss in 28 home games. Big picture.

Charliemyboy

Interesting; Lawson just said it was a lack of urgency and attention. He says our game plan can beat them if we execute.

we should have probably lost game 1 at home and then got blown out in game 2. I’m not liking what i see.

Kalen or other RMC staff, i know the series is far from over. like you said, we could win the next 3 and end this. But, just playing the what if game…if we lose this series, does George Karl keep his job?

I dont know how he could…year after year we lose in the 1st rd and now we have home court adv with a superior team. If we lose and GK stays the coach, i will not be excited next year because i’ll think i already know the outcome. I’ll watch because i’m a big fan, but to think this team can make any noise in playoffs would be ridiculous.

Anyways…COME ON NUGS! Lets take 1 in GSW and get back our HC advantage.

Zack

With home court in the first round and a clear advantage in terms of talent and depth, if the Nuggets lose in this round to GSW, I can’t see any way Masai can justify keeping Karl around. GK seems to get his teams to the playoffs every year (which is great). However, once they get there, they can’t seem to win (except for 2009).

This year should be different than the previous years because the Nuggets are the clear favorite and have home court.

Karl needs to go if the Nuggets dont’ win this series.

Charliemyboy

Methinks the numbers will play out; i.e., we will make it to the conference finals. Karl does things which are questionable; be glad we’re not Lakers. I just don’t know who would be better in the long run. We may have to wait one more year with this team to see if he can pull it off.

Like what, his average 3pt shooting? He doesn’t defend perimeter guys, so how could he make a difference.

Z

Gallo was gone stop that shooting huh? best shooting performance i seen in a playoff game in sometime, gotta buckle down and steal 1 on the road nuggets

Z

Bigs cant stay back on the screen n rolls with Curry he’s going to shoot!!!! i counted at least 6 times Faried or McGee stayed in the paint to long

Old Timer

Koufos was worse than McGee and Faried. At least McGee and Faried started trying to help on ball screens at the three point line. They just do not know how to properly position themselves. The best example of it was in the Fourth Faried was guessing which side the screen was going to be set on and he lunged to the left only to have the screener flip and set the screen on the right. Because Faried was overly aggressive he was way out of position and unable to help and Curry was able to splash another wide open three. The big needs to stick close to the screener so he can react to which side the screen is on. It is subtle positioning like that the Nuggets will have to improve on if they want to be able to properly defend GS.

Stiltz

I’m a little confused as to why so many people are saying that Denver has a clear advantage over GS when it comes to talent.

Please somebody break this down because I honestly don’t see it.

Henson

To the George Karl apologists:

The Nuggets went into this game knowing what the Warriors were going to do. With or without David Lee in their line up, the Warriors are going to shoot the ball. But, with David Lee out, this had to be their main mode of offense. The Nuggets had to know this, there’s no way they couldn’t.

This is why George Karl deserves the blame for this loss. He didn’t prepare his team for a gameplan that they had to see coming. If the Roundball Mining crew can dig up footage of the Warriors creating shots for Curry and Co in a few hours after a game, how could the Nuggets not see this coming in the copious amount of preparation time they had?

And, really, the problem isn’t the loss. In the playoffs, losses happen. It’s how the game was lost that was disheartening. The incredibly ineffective defense and the lack of motivation to play it was shocking.

Thomas

Excellent points.

http://yahoo.com prospector

Key to Friday’s Game:

More EVAN less two point guard lineups.. Miller less than 25 mins… play EVAN and IGGY together (as a backcourt) for 10 mins (this is purely a dream on my part).

Start Faried at PF and Chandler at SF…let iggy play defense all game against their guards… Faried banging around opens this up for KK…

If someone decides to play passive be ready to break out MOZZY, JHAM, or RANDOLPH…

This game will take strength from KARL to avoid playing small the whole game… Key to yesterdays loss was when EVAN had a couple of travelling turnovers.. KARL looked like he was going to have a heart attack… He had that McGEE face that he gets… So I knew at that point EVAN was done… It’s ok for vet’s to make mistakes and play zero defense, but when a youngster makes a mistake KARL loses it… Way to develop a youngster’s confidence!!! Let’s see, Youngster takes a chance and gets punished… Youngster starts to play SAFE and never develops into the star that they can become… (see the destruction of JHAM)….
I hope KARL proves me wrong… Last year against the LAKERS KARL started to MAN up in the series, we’ll see this year.. Old habits are hard to break… KARL put the two point guard crack pipe down please!!

Aaron

I want Kalen to back up his assertion (not fact) that the Nuggets have been a bad playoff team under GK. I would want to know what series we were in that we should’ve won but lost? When were we favored, but didn’t show up?

I”m going to say Utah ’10(George Karl was undergoing cancer treatment), and perhaps LAC in 05 I think it was (Sam Cassell’s team).

Beyond that, we’ve been the underdog, we haven’t had homecourt, etc. .

I was at the game last night, and was as furious as anyone. At the same time, Barnes and Jack were certainly not wide open. Everyone was just raining shots. It happens sometimes. They could not miss. Before garbage time, they were shooting 65% from 3 point land. Show me 5 games where that happened this year. We need to defend better, yes. But, they won’t shoot like that again. They’ll shoot well, Curry is a beast, but the other guys are not as consistent.

leeds

Fact: Career Playoff Record is 79-102 for a .4364 winning %

Aaron

For that to mean anything, you have to take his opponents into account.

leeds

excuses, excuses…

how about being the first #1 to lose to a #8…

tired of excuses for Karl…

Ryan

The overlooked aspect of being a lower seed consistently is that we blew numerous games each and every year during the regular season that could have netted us home court advantage in the playoffs. The fact that the Nuggets were a lower seed does not mean that they maxed out their potential. Routinely not meeting expectations year after year after year rightfully earns GK the scorn he’s getting now…

will

Lineups matter and if we have bigs and guards that can’t defend the pick and roll we just aren’t going to be able to stop Curry & whatever his name is.

I don’t see how we can have Andre Miller playing soo many minutes if hes such a weak perimeter defender. McGee is so slow and awkward he gets out of position almost every possession. KK is playing even worse. Yet we clearly need a center.

I don’t think its an overreaction to say that GSW is probably gonna win this series. They outplayed us for two games in Denver and they might be better without Lee. Nugget’s pick and roll defense is atrocious and Curry is going to make most of his wide open shots.

mcz84

I totally agree with you 110%

http://espn gary g

GS just shot out of their f’n skins last night and probably won’t match that percentage….ever. And I know its the usual one game overreaction, but two time proven facts have come back to bite us it seems:
– GK can’t coach a lick in the playoffs
– Denver can’t play D against good shooting teams.

Still expect us to win in 6 max., but the intensity and coaching has to p/u on Fri night.

http://yahoo.com prospector

Despite being rusty and having a non-Faried type game.. FARIED was PLUS 10….

Wilson playing at the PF was -20………

Play Wilson at the SMALL and watch Wilson light it up… Anyone remember Wilson’s tear when gallo first went down??? (before FARIED got hurt)…. Most of Wilson’s minutes were at the SMALL and he shined…… WHY BECAUSE HE IS A SMALL FORWARD/SG…

Z

Coach Karl has to adjust now go back with KK,Faried,Chandler,Iggy,Ty let Faried crash the boards to keep Barnes occupied if GS keeps him at the PF.

mcz84

Wow I totally didnt expect the Nuggets to get blown out, but were lucky to be tied 1-1 we have been outplayed and outcoached both games.Yes we won game 1 thanks to A MIller but he can also cost us the series.A Miller hardly plays any defense he was leaving his man wideopen for 3s, and whats up with him starting to shoot 3s himself hes no RAllen to be shooting those, he shouldnt be playing more than 20 minutes, I hated the 2 pg lineup that GK uses way too much.MY starting lineup for Friday would be Lawson, Iggy,CHandler,Faried and Koufos.Speakin of Koufos he was invisible 2 Rebounds cmon Doufos, Id rather play Randolph a little more give him some of Koufos minutes.
GK has gotten outcoached both games hopefully he’ll turn it around on Friday.I say if we lose the series we should give P.Jackson a call. IM sick and tired of GK and his lack to make in game adjustments

Tom2

Denver has won every playoff series they were favored to win with Karl coaching. Fans like Kalen just have no sense of perspective. You guys do realize that the great Popovich has actually lost plenty of series that the Spurs were favored to win, even in the first round! Karl has not lost any that he was favored to win (with the Nuggets)!

Sometimes it doesn’t matter what the game-plan is, or the rotations, or the play-calls, etc. Sometimes one team is just flat-out better than the other for one game.

It should also be pointed out that Golden State had 10 more defensive rebounds because they had 16 more defensive rebound opportunities (+12 from FG disparity, and +4 from FT disparity).

I think the Nuggets actually would have had a chance to win that game if Barnes and Jack hadn’t had the game of their lives. Blame Karl for that? He tried all sorts of combinations, and nobody could stop those guys. How is that the coach’s fault? Is he supposed to wave a magic wand that makes guys miss jump shots? Incredible. When the Nuggets win the next 3 games, people will complain that is should have been easier, if only we had a different coach!

Thomas

He tried “all sorts of combinations”?

What about Fournier and AI in the backcourt and Chandler at SF, along with two bigs?

What about Ty, Fournier, AI, Faried, KK?

Or what about Ty, AI, Chandler, Faried and KK – aka the normal starting five?

You know why he didn’t try those line-ups? Magic eight ball….that would mean he could not use Miller or Brewer – his favorite players.

When sh*t is not going our way, the only thing you can be certain that GK will do is play Miller and Brewer.

That is the definition of bad coaching.

Tom2

Brilliant reasoning. Play KK, Faried, and Fournier more when they’re totally sucking. Play Miller (the guy who won game 1 practically by himself) less.

Thomas

KK “sucked” because he played in the 2PG line-up that had Chandler as PF for a horrible 6 minutes in the 2nd and 3rd quarter that cost us the game. Who sucked in that line-up was Miller and Chandler playing out of position.

Faried “sucked” to the tune of +10 in 21 minutes, of which he had +5 by the time the game was over and he was for some reason sitting on the bench, as opposed to playing alongside KK – our dominant front line.

Fournier “sucked” so much that we were down only 2 in the miserly 6 minutes GK allowed him to play in the first 3 quarters.

Meanwhile, Miller was “brilliant” in 27 minutes (GASP!), recording a -8. He shot “lights out” and allowed his opponent to shoot lights out squared.

GK and you just don’t understand the difference between playoff basketball and the regular season. Yes, Miller will win one game every now and then – for every game he wins he will lose you 2 for not playing defense. There is a reason why the man hasn’t won anything in the playoffs…

Keep up the good work…

Gorillabuddy

To be honest, I’m not worried. They will not be able to shoot 65% on mostly jumpshots again. It’s just not going to happen.

Tom2

Regarding the 2 PG lineup that prospector and others loathe so much, let’s do some simple arithmetic:
Lawson should see 40 minutes in a close playoff game,
Miller should see 25 minutes in a close playoff game,
there are only 48 minutes in a game,
therefore Lawson and Miller should play at the very least 40+25-48 = 17 minutes per game together in a close playoff game. Unless you want to nearly remove Miller from the game, or severely limit Lawson’s minutes, the Nuggets should be playing a 2 PG lineup at least 17 minutes per game.

heykyleinsf

The Clippers would tend to agree as well.

Mark

I’m so glad we don’t have JR Smith. I mean yeah, we didn’t have anyone to drain clutch 3’s to get us back in the game when we’re struggling offensively… But who cares? What’s important is that our guys sure had a good attitude out there! (Sarcasm alert)

JR Smith was huge in the Knicks win yesterday.
All season he has been a spark for them.
He has been a monster on defense.

I didn’t like seeing him go.

OH.. and speaking of former Nuggets..;
anyone seen the Birdman lately?

Greco_21

Denver depends too much on a specific game plan that is hard to follow during play offs.

I posted all season in RMC that Denver should develop some post plays. Go early at the post, go to the foul line, remove centers out of the line up with two quick fouls and get open lanes for drives.

The half court game of Denver is too predictable especially with Wilson Chandler playing the PF. I mean the guys best pass is from his left to his right hand.

On the defensive end the traps did not work. I would not trap Stephen Curry with a center. It was too easy for them to break it. They just trusted FESTUS EZELI (CMON) and Bogut to get wide open dunks.

Do not double Curry just get Iggy to guard him.

allAround

Good that Bogut did not shoot a 3pointer. He could have it yesterday. Everything was going in for them .

CBrewer, Fournier or Iggy should guard Curry . You need a taller player to limit his vision.

Other than that . I would still bet on Nugs even if that history says if you struggle with the first match and loose big the second then the chances are not with you .

ny nugs fan

and the sky is falling

question: who typically brings the ball up for the warriors?

they dont seem to have many guys who can do this and i was a little shocked watching curry walk the ball up whenever they got in trouble

the nugs need to make h barnes look like the rookie he is

sorry but the warriors cant go as deep as the nugs

Evan Woodruff

Nuggets win by 6-8 in a semi comfortable game, in which they have the lead for most of the game and mostly have a 5+ point lead with a few instances of 1-3.

Nuggets win a grind-it-out close game in game 4 and head back to Denver to close the series out in a blowout over the disheartened warriors.

Joji

I doesn’t make sense to hear everyone is saying the nuggets is the better team. The nuggets, in their own court, “stole” game 1 and got badly beaten in game 2. Where in heavens can we make a conclusion that the Nuggets is a better team?